Oh, There's a Penguin
by SqueakyTheDuck
Summary: Face encounters a rather...unusual passenger on a plane. What's it doing there, and what's Murdock got to do with it?


**A/N: Another one from a Creative Writing assignment. We had to find an unusual news article and write a story based on it. I found something on Yahoo!News about a couple of penguins getting to fly first class, and I realized that the fanfic potential was too great to pass up, so I wrote this.  
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><p>Face yawned and stretched and leaned back in his seat. It was going to be a long flight. He might as well take the opportunity to rest up before the mission.<p>

He was just beginning to drift off when he felt something brush up against his leg. He opened his eyes and looked down.

_Oh, there's a penguin._ Face thought vaguely. He started to close his eyes again.

It hit him suddenly and he sat up straight, coming fully awake. He stared, dumbfounded, at the black and white creature that was waddling up the aisle.

_I'm dreaming. _He thought, pinching his arm. _Ow! Okay, not dreaming._

He looked up at Hannibal, who was sitting across the aisle, calmly smoking a cigar. Face pointed to the penguin. "Umm...?"

Hannibal shrugged and nodded towards the cockpit. "Ask him."

"Riiight." Face sighed and stood up. He leaned over to pick up the penguin. It objected loudly, but Face held onto it and headed up to the cockpit. "Murdock!"

Face entered the cockpit and stood beside the pilots' chair. "Murdock..."

Murdock glanced sidelong at his friend. "Yeah?"

"What is this penguin doing here?" Face held up the struggling animal.

"Well it looks like he's squirmin' a little bit." Murdock replied. "Y'know I don't think he likes you holdin' him."

Face sighed. "What is he doing on this _flight_?"

"He's flyin', same as us."

Face lost his patience. "_WHERE_ DID YOU GET A PENGUIN AND _WHY_ ARE WE TAKING HIM WITH US!"

"Well if that's what you wanted to know, you should have just asked me that in the first place." Murdock said petulantly.

Face dropped into the copilots' chair with an exasperated sigh. The penguin flapped its wings and squawked in protest of being held. He snapped his beak shut around Face's fingers.

"Ouch!" Face jerked his hand back, trying to keep his grasp on the bird by hooking his other arm around it.

"Here, lemme see him." Murdock reached over to him. Face gladly relinquished the troublesome bird; it immediately calmed down in Murdock's arms.

"I don't know how you do it Murdock." Face shook his head in disbelief.

"You just gotta know how to work with 'em, that's all." Murdock said, stroking the penguin's head gently.

"Now," Face said. "How 'bout telling me what your little friend there is doing flying to Cambodia with us?"

"Well, ya see, I know this guy, he's a zoologist—he's a friend of Dr. Richter's. He raised this little fella here—hatched him and everything. Now Nippers is ready to go out and meet other penguins."

"Nippers...that's an appropriate name." Face commented, rubbing his sore fingers.

"But of course he can't survive in the wild, not after being raised in captivity." Murdock went on. "There's a zoo in Cambodia that's willing to take him, so I volunteered to—uh, that is, I suggested that since we were going to Cambodia anyway, we could take Nippers with us."

"Murdock, didn't you get this mission for us in the first place?" Face asked, suddenly suspicious. "I mean you _were_ the one who told us about the smuggling operation going on over there."

Murdock looked away, apparently becoming very interested in something outside the window. "Maybe."

"Murdock...did you convince Hannibal to take the mission to stop these smugglers just so you could take a _penguin_ to the _zoo_?"

"Well...I...I mean..." Murdock stuttered. "...oh c'mon Face, _look _at the little guy!" He petted the penguin protectively. "He needs a new home, and, well...we can get him there."

"And you figured that if you just asked me to scam a plane for you so you could go there yourself, that I would say no?"

"You would have." Murdock said.

"Yeah, probably." Face admitted. "So while we're getting shot at by smugglers, Nippy here—"

"Nippers."

"Whatever. _He's _gonna be finding a mate at the local zoo. Well that's just fantastic."

"Aw, look at it this way, Face." Murdock said with a grin. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe they'll name one of their baby penguins after you."

"Yeah?" Face reached out to Nippers, trying to pet him. The penguin snapped his beak again and Face jerked his hand back just in time. "Somehow I really doubt that, Murdock."


End file.
